Page 31 of Secret Bet

Chapter9

Nothing made sense.Belle's arms were wrapped around Peter's shoulders, and she pressed her lips to his for another kiss. There was something manly and full of testosterone that made him taste far better than anyone else,includingColt.

Electricity charged throughher veins. He was everything a woman could ever desire in a man. A shiver rushed through her as she detangled her limbs from aroundhisback.

She sighed and swallowed. "Peter, this was amistake."

He blinked, but his hands fell to his sides. "Akiss?"

Too hot to handle kisses were not in the cards for her. She swallowed, and the taste of himlingered.

"That was onlya kiss to you? I felt fireworks andthat'sbad."

"Fireworksarebad?"

"Yes."

"You're confusing." He leaned against the door. "Belle, it's not bad to be attracted to eachother."

Every cell in her body yelled she ought to rip her clothes off and find out what would happen next. She'd never been this carnal about any man. It wasn't like her. She averted her gaze and madeher hands intofists.

"Not bad for you. It's a horrible ideaforme."

"Why?"

The question made her glance at him. She swayed on her feet. His brown eyes were like a rich dark chocolate that her insides quivered to taste. "For one, you're Colt'sbrother."

"Yes, he’ll be my brother-in-law tonight, that cannot bechanged."

She squared her shoulders. "I fully intendedto pretend Victoria and Colt never existed in my life for the next hundredyears."

He scratched his chin and stood straighter. "I thought you forgave them. You came to this wedding forclosure."

"I did and then the plan was to pretend they never existed,Peter."

“Forgive them and forgiveyourself.”

She had come to their wedding because the fire inside her would continueto eat at her if she stayed mad. Songs about loss and losing love were on her playlist for the next year. She had intended to have a good longwallow.

"Look, I'm trying, but forgiveness and seeing things thrown in my face are two different things. I hadn't movedonyet."

"Is there any other reason other than VictoriaandColt?"

Not if he continued to stare at her with thosebig saucer eyes. She unclenched her hands and straightened her blouse andskirt.

"Yes. It's more important to me that our lives don't mesh. You're a fancy dinner, and at the end of the day, I'm hot dogs, beer, and a bag ofM&Ms."

His tapped his finger to his lips. "M&Ms?"

Mouth-watering delicious kisses from that mouth of his sent a twinge down her spine. She'd not feed thatcraving. She fixed her hair behindherear.

"The candy was created for American soldiers, so they had a sugar rush while invading Europe. I don't know anything other than war and how to prepare to fight in one. It's why I work forCenturyArms."

"Belle, you aretrembling."

Her legs were wobbly. This wasn't good. She widened her stance. "Thereismore."

"M&Ms are oneof my favorite candies." He licked his lips. "And an attraction between two consenting adults means we get to live on the edge and see where the spark leads. It doesn't have to be morethanthat."

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